Sunday, 8 April 2018

Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930-1985) - In Memoriam - Cassette published in India in 1987


To close our Dhrupad Series (for now), which became much longer then originally intended, we present here a cassette by the great Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan, who was, next to his teacher Ustad Faiyaz Khan, amongst the few outstanding singers of the Agra Gharana, who still sang reguarly long Alaps in the Dhrupad style, most times followed by a Khayal compostion. But Ustad Faiyaz Khan sang also Dhrupad compositions, mostly Dhamar. See our post of a cassette by Ustad Faiyaz Khan. 
Sharafat Hussain Khan (1930 - 1985) was amongst the most brilliant Khayal vocalists of the post-independence era. He represented the Agra Gharana (stylistic lineage), and was unanimously regarded as the most illustrious heir to the legacy of his principal mentor, the legendary Ustad Faiyyaz Khan (1886 - 1950).
Here on this cassette the complete Side A is filled with a long Alap in Raga Jaijaiwanti, followed on Side B by a Khayal composition in the same Raga.
In 2011 and 2015 we posted already four recordings by him, partly also with long Alaps. See here.

The Agra Gharana was originally a Dhrupad Gharana. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra_gharana

Here two pages from the book "Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition" by Guy L. Beck, on which some information on the Dhrupad background of the Agra Gharana is given:


from: Google Books

 Addition on 25th of may, 2018:
Here a link from Saptak Festival 2018, devoted to Ustad Sharafat Hussain Khan, containing a beautiful  article on the artist and a CD published on that occasion:
http://www.saptakarchives.org/artist-bios/ustad-sharafat-hussain-khan/

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3 comments:

  1. Kiran10 April 2018 at 18:09

    Fantastic share. This is a great gift to fans of Agra Gharana.

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  2. BT11 April 2018 at 19:07

    Thank-you very much

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  3. Richard14 April 2018 at 05:42

    Thanks!

    I can not exactly state why, but i have always greatly enjoyed Sharafat Hussain Khan's vocal recordings. There is a quality to his voice and vocal style that to me sounds very sincere. As I have mentioned several times, there is now a growing body of recordings being uploaded of house concerts and privately recorded tapes being uploaded to YouTube, and recently i was able to download the audio portion of several dozen otherwise unavailable concerts of SHK's. They are on my phone and I will sometimes listen to them with headphones. Back in 1987 it must have been very exciting for his fans to see a cassette like this.

    Hope you are well. Take care!

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